Descent
by Feather Rain
Summary: A dark ritual in a cave, a nun buys a bowl and everyone eats a bit of cake. Just what is in store for our heroes? Read on and find out!
1. Chapter 1: Descent into Darkness

Chapter 1: Darkness

A man paused as darkness enveloped him. He had stepped into a narrow tunnel, as wide as two people standing shoulder to shoulder. Its sides were carved from smooth stone, sloping gently downwards with no end in sight. The solid walls had blocked everything. The gentle ocean breeze was replaced by an eerie stillness, and the twinkling stars by the pitch-black ceiling. Permeating the air was a stale scent of something long dead and gone — it was as if he had entered a different world altogether.

Clack. Clack.

He continued forward, accompanied only by the sound of his slippers tapping against the stony floor.

When the light from the entrance disappeared in the distance and his eyes could no longer guide him, he reached out to the wall with his hand.

Then, far in the distance appeared a flickering speck of red-orange light. It was so small and dim that one might have dismissed it as an illusion. But as he got closer, the speck of light steadied and grew, taking the shape of a symbol.

Carved into the wall of the tunnel, glowing defiantly against the black emptiness, was a single rune. And when the man reached it, the rune brightened, as if it had recognized his presence. It was the first of many. Not too far ahead were several more specks of light.

At first they were few and far in between, but they became more numerous as he continued forward. Their light illuminated the tunnel, basking it in an orange glow.

He continued for another minute before he saw light ahead. The tunnel had come to an end, opening into a large, hemispherical room. He could see 5 robed figures standing within, whispering quietly to one another.

His footsteps announced his arrival, and the figures turned to greet him.

"So you came." A middle-aged female voice acknowledged him.

"We were starting to think you didn't have the guts to carry this through." Another voice, belonging to a younger man.

"Just in time," said yet another.

The man made no reply. Instead, he examined the room he had entered.

It was about 20 feet across – a perfect hemisphere, covered from top to bottom in runes. The runes formed long chains, like twisting vines, curving every which way, crisscrossing, coming together and splitting apart. The floor was completely flat and polished to a shine, with a number of thin, dark lines were etched into the stony surface. The lines formed a large pentagram, with two larger concentric circles around it. Carved in the empty spaces between the lines were even more runes.

The man nodded in satisfaction. He checked his watch, "7 minutes left. We can start."

The others nodded and spread out onto the diagram, with one person at each point of the pentagram, leaving the man alone at the entrance. For a moment, they all stood in silence. Then they began to chant.

It was a steady sound, yet filled with anticipation. At first, they chanted in unison, but then, one by one, their voices broke off from the collective, finding their own rhythm. As they did so, their voices grew louder and harsher. The stone ceiling echoed them, multiplying their voices. One voice became five, then ten, and soon it was a cacophony of hundreds.

The runes changed their color, yellow, then blue, then a brilliant white. Wind came and encircled them. The ground began trembling beneath them.

The man, who had been standing outside of the circle watching, took another look at his watch.

"Two minutes!" the man announced.

In response, the chanters quickened their pace, and the chaos grew. The shaking grew violent, their robes flapped in the wind, and the noise was almost deafening.

"One minute!"

This time chanters gave no indication they had heard. But the man seems unconcerned. Instead, he walked to the center of the room.

30 seconds left. He looked down at his watch, counting down the seconds, waiting patiently for the moment to arrive.

10 seconds. The room was now brighter than day, and the wind grew into a vicious cyclone, picking up loose gravel and flinging them across the room. The ground shook so violently that cracks formed in the dome. A few pieces of the ceiling broke off and fell, narrowly missing the ones standing below.

4 seconds. The man steadied himself.

3... He took out a dagger from underneath his robes,

2... gripped it with both hands,

1... held it high above him,

... and plunged it into himself.

And then it all vanished – the brilliant light, the deafening noise, the violent shaking, and the whirling winds, leaving the room in complete darkness and silence.

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Seven thousand miles away, in a country called Japan, a young girl woke with a start. She had a very strange dream, one filled with a sense of foreboding. If she didn't know any better, she'd say it was a prophecy, and a very important one at that. But that's impossible, prophecies only come to people who can use magic. Though she might have more magical knowledge than any other person alive, she cannot use any of it.

And then her stomach growled – a rumbling reminder that she was hungry. She had a tiny dinner last night thanks to her penny-pinching roommate, and he is about to pay dearly for it. As the girl contemplated how she should inflict pain and suffering upon her unsuspecting roommate, her strange dream was quickly forgotten.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Touma:** I have a very bad feeling about what's going to happen.  
**Author:** Oh don't worry about that, I don't like killing people that much.  
**Touma:** *Looks at Index* I have a bad feeling about her too.  
**Index:** Oh don't worry about that, it's just your survival instinct.  
**Touma:** Shouldn't I listen to that? Wait, why are you bearing your teeth at me?  
**Index:** I'm a bit hungry that's all.  
**Touma:** What does that have to do with me? And why are you licking your lips? You're making me very worried.  
**Index:** *Approaches slowly*  
**Touma:** Uh... uh... a bit of help here?  
**Author:** *Hands him a whole cake* Here, use this.  
**Touma:** Ah thanks! *Turns to Index* O great one, calm thyself, for you shall hunger no longer. I, your humble servant, present to you this marvelous cake.  
**Index:** Oooohhhh... *Nom nom nom*  
**Touma:** Did that work?  
**Author:** It's super effective.  
**Index:** *Finishes the cake* I'll let you off this time. But don't make me eat cup ramen for dinner ever again. Understood?  
**Touma:** Sir! Yes sir!


	2. Chapter 2: Descent into Comedy

DISCLAIMER:

THIS STORY IS A WORK OF FICTION — ALL CHARACTERS, LOCATIONS, EVENTS AND IDEAS PRESENTED IN THIS STORY ARE FICTITIOUS. ANY RESEMBLANCE TO PERSONS, PLACES, EVENTS OR IDEAS, REAL OR FICTIONAL, IS ENTIRELY COINCIDENTAL, AND EXISTS SOLELY AS A HALLUCINATION WITHIN THE MIND OF THE READER.

* * *

In the women's dormitory of the Necessarius branch of the Church of England, Agnese Sanctis, the leader of two hundred and fifty battle nuns, stood dumbfounded at the sight in front of her. The laundry room was completely flooded in a foot and half of water. Clothing and laundry baskets floated about room like driftwood. Two nuns were hunched over the doorway, fumbling about a wooden board, trying to hold back the rising water.

"Again? Just what were you thinking?" She yelled.

It shouldn't surprising, really, the washing machine from Academy City had a million options. By now, she's convinced that at least half of those were "flood the room".

"Sorry," said one of her subordinates, "I swear it was an accident. All we did was press some buttons on the machine. We didn't know it was going to..."

Agnese let out a sigh. As much as she wanted to scream at them, these girls weren't just fooling around — they were on laundry duty. It's a daunting task given the amount of dirty clothing a dorm full of people generates.

"Alright, forget how it happened, right now let's figure out how to fix..."

That was when Agnese noticed something was off about that board they were using. First, it's entirely too small to block the doorway. And second, the edges seems to have rotted away, and there's several holes in it. It was really old and falling apart, just like a certain priceless artifact that they recovered from the mountains of Turkey last month.

"Wait a minute, isn't that..."

"A piece of the Ark of the Covenant?" Orsola Aquinas, the resident magic researcher, stepped in behind Agnese. "How clever. To have held back the Great Flood for 49 days, a mere laundry room full of water..."

Orsola cut her explanation short as she noticed a dark aura emanating from Agnese.

"YOU TWO!" The redhead was livid.

"Eeep!"

"Explain!"

"T-t-that..." the girl tried to explain, but lost her voice under the deathly glare of her superior.

Agnese then turned to the other girl. "What you are doing with a priceless artifact?!"

The girl blanched. Her voice failed her, and whole body shook as if she was a mouse about to be fed to a hungry viper.

"I'm waiting." Agnese crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. She stared down the two unfortunate girls, sending waves upon waves of raw terror.

Orsolas tried to intervene. "Um... Agnese?"

"..."

"Agnese?"

"..."

Then Orsolas noticed something rather concerning.

"Agnese! The water is overflowing."

Agnese stole a glance at the overflowing room. A look of pain crossed her face as she considered whether she should keep up the punshing glare or fix the rapidly worsening situation.

"Humph. I'll decide your punishments later. You! Go to the power breaker upstairs and turn off power to this room. And you, hold the Ark in place until we drain the water."

"Yes!" "Right away!"

By then, many more inhabitants of the dorm had gathered around the commotion, and they were all immediately drafted into helping. Agnese gave out orders left and right, shutting down the water to the building and recovering the clothing still in the room. In no time, the water was drained and order was restored.

Agnese was just about to leave when Orsola stopped her. "Ms. Stuart is looking for you. She said it was something important."

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"If you're going to tell me to go to school again, you can forget about it." Agnese confronted Laura Stewart, Archbishop of the Church of England, trying to look as resolute as possible. They've already tried to enroll her twice already, and it's getting annoying.

"That's not why I called you, but since you brought it up, here's two more prospective schools you should consider," Laura picked up a piece of paper on her desk, "Saint Clarissa's, operated by the us, the Church of England, and Pine Wood Primary School. Both have excellent..."

"I'm not going back to primary school!" Agnese yelled. She's the leader of 250 battle nuns and an important member of Necessarius! "Besides, I'm 15 already, what would I look like sitting in a classroom with a bunch of kids?"

"Ara ara... but you are so small, I think you'd fit right in." Laura said with a smile.

Agnese clenched her fists and felt blood rising to her face.

"But seriously," the archbishop continued, "given your academic background, you'd have a very hard time keeping up if we sent you straight to high school."

As much as she'd hate to admit it, Laura had a point. Ever since she became the leader of her own fighting force, she had spent all of her time training or fighting. What little time she had left was spent in Bible studies. There just wasn't time for anything else.

_But still, it would make me look like an idiot. Stiyl would laugh his head off if he found out._

"In any case, please think seriously about this."

"You said you wanted me for something else?" Agnese prompted, wanting to get away from this topic as soon as possible.

"Yes, here," Laura handed her a photo of a corner of a dark and dusty storage room. It showed an ellipsoid object, mostly dark brown in color. There were patterns drawn on its side as well as inscriptions in a foreign language. It was hard to make out due to the poor contrast, but there seems to be a large depression in the middle of it.

"A bowl?"

"Yes. This is the Bowl of Plenty, last seen in Romania in 1821. It's also known by its Latin name, Pateracopia. Many believe the bowl is a very powerful magical artifact. It's said to bring prosperity to its owner."

"What does it do exactly?"

"No one is quite sure. Of the four known owners of the bowl, two were poor merchants, who, in less than a year of owning the bowl, earned enough money to buy titles of nobility. The third owner was a monk. He convinced a wealthy Marquis to donate his entire fortune to the church. No one knew how he managed that. Many bishops who tried before him had all failed. The Church promoted him to the position of bishop after just three months."

"Then the bowl makes its owner rich?" _If it really had that kind of power, it would be an incredibly valuable artifact,_ Agnese thought.

"That's one theory. The other is some form of mind control. The merchants could have convinced their trading partners to give them better deals. If they exploited that, it wouldn't be long before they were as wealthy as kings. Either way, word got out that the bowl is quite valuable.

That brings us to the last owner. He was a thief by trade. After hearing about this marvelous treasure, he snuck into the church and stole it. He quickly sold the bowl and made a small fortune. But unfortunately for him, he was captured just a few days later. The police tried to track down the buyer, but they never found him. So the bowl disappeared from history."

"But that was in the 1800's right? Where did this photo come from?"

"Ara, you are quite sharp for a primary school student. The artifact was all but lost and forgotten — until now. This photo was taken last week in Brazil. We're sending you there to retrieve it."

_You didn't have to sneak an insult in there._ She was just about to say something when she heard the door open behind her. It was Stiyl, dressed in his usual black robe, a cigarette in his mouth and carrying a small cardboard package in his hand. At well over 6 feet, it's hard to believe the teenager towering over her is only a year older than herself.

"Ah! Perfect timing. I was just explaining the mission to Agnese here."

"Whatever. Where do I leave this?"

"It's for Agnese."

Stiyl unceremoniously handed the package to her. It was only about 6 inches on each side, but very heavy. There's probably something metallic inside.

"Stiyl, need I remind you?" Laura chided, "smoking within this building is strictly forbidden. Please get rid of it."

"Tsk." Stiyl made an irritated noise, but made no move to throw away the cigarette. And Laura, upon seeing this, narrowed her eyes in response.

What came next was one of the most intense battle of wills Agnese had ever witnessed. Laura Stewart, clad in the imposing air of an Archbishop, faced down her subordinate. Her hands were folded neatly on the desk, and her face revealed a slight smile. But it was a smile that held no warmth. No, far worse than that, it was a smile so icy cold that it could've frozen Hell itself. The aggression in her demeanor is so obvious that she might as well have brandished a knife. This was a look that Agnese herself had tried to imitate when she needed to assert her authority. Of course, brandishing a knife in someone's face is for petty criminals. Laura is an archbishop, and archbishops could do far worse with just a word from their mouth.

Stiyl, on the other hand, exhumed an aura of delinquency. His multiple piercings, barcode tattoo, rings, and the aforementioned cigarette all loudly proclaimed his distaste for rules. Beneath his tightly knitted brows, in his eyes, was a blazing inferno as brilliant as Innocentis itself. It was a look of someone who had suffered too much for too long, and all those years of hate that was once stamped down and shoved to the side is about to come back, bursting through the gates to be unleashed upon the world.

In a contest between priest and archbishop, one would think the winner would be obvious. But somehow, it didn't seem like that at all. Stiyl, backed by his fiery aura, firmly stood his ground against the icy waves his opponent was emitting. Half of the room became fire, and the other half, ice. The forces held in balance, and for a moment, neither side seems to have an advantage.

Perhaps it was because he didn't want this to end in a stalemate, Stiyl casually stepped forward. Suddenly, his fiery aura was pushing back the cold, dispersing it, overwhelming it, and threatening to engulf the room.

Not to be outdone, Laura calmly stood up, smile still upon her face. The icy aura, like water from an overturned bucket, poured out of her, snuffing out the fire and pushing it back. Once again, the room returned to equlibrium. Half fire and half ice.

Meanwhile, Agnese was caught helpless between the two monsters. "Um..." she tried to think of something to say that could calm them down. If she doesn't do something soon, these two will end up destroying the whole building. _And I just fixed the laundry room!_

It was at that moment of impasse that Stiyl suddenly smiled, and his aura vanished along with it. He took the cigarette from his mouth and with a flick of his wrist, incinerated it with fire. "There," he said, gesturing to the cloud of smoke that was once his cigarette.

_Wait a minute, you made the room as smokey as if you had just finished it! What's the point of that?_

It wasn't until Agnese noticed the smirk on Stiyl's face that she understood what happened. This is exactly what Stiyl had intended. As strong as he was, he was the subordinate. So he couldn't fight the rules head-on. Instead, he chose to obey them in the most subversive manner possible. So long as the cigarette is no longer lit, he's safely within the rules.

Agnese turned to the Archbishop to see what her reaction is. No doubt she had noticed his ploy. But to her surprise, Laura merely thanked him and sat back down.

"Now as I was saying, Agnese, the artifact is incredibly valuable, so it would be best if it came into our possession. The local Catholic chapters are also looking for it, but right now we have the upper hand. The man who sent us the photo also claims to know its current whereabouts. Your mission will be to get in contact with him, find the artifact, and bring it back."

"Should I bring the battalion with me?" Agnese asked, referring to her battle nun army.

"No need. We hope to accomplish this without causing any major incidents. Brazil is Roman Catholic territory after all."

"Is this is a covert mission then?"

"More or less. Even if they knew you were there, they don't know we're after the bowl. They can't come after every magician that crosses their borders. Try not to attract too much attention and you should be fine."

"And this package?"

"That contains everything you'll need for this mission. And here in this envelope is your detailed instructions. You will leave for Brazil tonight at 7 p.m."

"Understood." Agnese took the envelope from her. This leaves her with just a few hours to prepare. "Is there anything else you need me for?"

"No, that'll be all. Thank you."

With that, Agnese left the room. Stiyl, who has been standing in the corner listening in, also tried to leave. But it looks like his earlier subversion is about to come back and bite him in the ass.

"Oh Stiyl~ I still have something to discuss with you~" Laura called out in a melodic voice.

_This is going to turn turn ugly,_ Agnese thought as she made her escape.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Agnese was halfway to her room when she heard a shout behind her.

"Agnese! Agnese!"

She turned around to see a short girl in braids running towards her, followed by a much taller girl. "Angelene? And Lucia?"

"Today is Fiona's birthday and we bought cake!" Angelene was jumping up and down in excitement.

"Triple chocolate mousse, I think is what it's called," Lucia added. Though she appears much more composed than Angelene, Agnese could tell she's eager to have a bite. It's a rare sight to behold for the normally stern Lucia.

"Ohoho... I see it's got you under its spell too?" Agnese could not resist teasing her a bit.

"No, not really," she denied in a rather awkward voice. "It's just that this cake is from one of the best confectionaries in the area."

"That's right! We should go right now!" Angelene grabbed Agnese's hand. But just as she was about to take off, Lucia gave her a hard chop to the head.

"Owww~"

"The cake is for after dinner. You can't eat it now."

"Lucia's right, you should at least sing Fiona's birthday song for her first, then we can all enjoy the cake," Agnese added. Then she remembered the task she was just given, "actually, you two enjoy it. I... have a mission."

"You are going away?" asked Angelene, her previous excitement replaced by a frown.

"Yes, I'm going to Brazil," Agnese answered, "the Archbishop just briefed me on it."

"Should I get the troops ready then?" asked Lucia, also slightly concerned.

"No, this is a covert mission, I'll be going alone. I'm putting you in charge while I am gone."

"I see. Then please be careful."

"Thanks, I will," Agnese replied. Then turning to Angelene, she added with a smile, "don't worry, it's a short mission, just a few days at most. I'll be back before you know it."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Be a good girl and listen to Lucia."

Waving goodbye to her two best friends, Agnese turned around and went back to her room to pack.

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It turns out that the weight of the package came from a heavy sack of antique gold coins. There were several hundred inside. Besides their intrinsic gold value, they were probably also antiques. The rest of the package was filled with miscellaneous items. There was an airplane ticket from London to Florianopolis, a big roll of Brazilian currency, a copy of the photo Laura showed her and several magical tokens.

As Agnese read through the instructions, she suddenly remembered something very important. _What should I wear?_ She looked down at her habit. _This will stand out too much in a crowd._ She opened her wardrobe, and to her dismay, found only more robes. Most of her personal belongings were still back in Italy with the Roman Catholic Church.

"Looks like I'll need to go shopping... I wonder what's the weather like there?"

* * *

"That'll be 450 yen."

"450?"

Touma stood dumbfounded in a convinence store checkout line. Today he had to buy 2 things, a can of cat food for Sphinx, and a bag of rice for Index and himself. It's almost time for his monthly stipend, which also means he is almost out of money. In fact, all he has is the 400 yen in his pocket right now.

A wise man once said, the most difficult choice a person will ever face is the choice between his freeloading roommate and her cat. Leave the cat food, and Index will be angry at him. But leaving the rice means Index would be hungry _and_ angry. What would she do to him in that state? He shudders at the thought.

"Such misfortune!"

The cashier behind the counter gave him with a suspicious look.

"Ahem. That'll be 450 yen," she said.

"Um... How should I say this? Can I get a discount?"

"Huh?"

"A discount. I only have 400 yen on me."

That earned him a disapproving frown from the cashier.

"Then leave something," she said a matter-of-factly, "and please be quick. There are other customers waiting in line behind you."

_I knew that wouldn't work. But maybe one of those customers could help? It's only 50 yen after all._ Touma turned around to the person standing behind him.

But instead of a normal person like he had expected, he came face to face with a great wall of muscle and sinew, twice as wide as him and a full 3 heads taller, wrapped in a tight-fitting t-shirt and jeans. It was glaring at him in annoyance.

_On second thought, let's not ask him._ Touma timidly turned around to contemplate his doom. _Now what will it be? Cat food or rice?_

A ring sounded the shop's door, interrupting his thoughts. A familiar-looking female customer entered the store.

"Biri-biri?"

"You!" She pointed rudely at him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm shopping."

"That's not what I mean. Did you see how many times I texted you? And you didn't give me a single reply!"

"Um... Now's not the best time for this..." Touma held out his hand in a calming gesture.

"Not the best-" Misaka Mikoto, the third highest ranked level 5, Ace of Tokiwadai and an ojou-sama, suddenly remembered where she was. Her short outburst had already attracted the attention of the whole store. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Fine, let's talk after we're done shopping. And don't you dare run away."

"Alright. Alright."

"By the way, why do those people behind you look so angry?"

"Ah haha." Touma let out a weak laugh. "You see, I'm in a bit of a tough spot."

"Oh?" She crossed her arms, waiting to hear whatever silly story he has made up. But she did not expect what happened next, because Touma suddenly fell to his knees and yelled as loud as he could.

"I would be extremely grateful if you could please grant me 50 yen!"

"Eh? What?"

"Please!" Touma bowed down as far as he could, his head almost touching the ground. "Lend me some money!"

"D-Did you say 50 yen? Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'll do anything!"

"Anything at all?"

"Yes! Please!"

"I see. I see." An evil grin appeared on the girl's face. She's no doubt imagining all sorts of painful and humiliating things for him to do.

Looking at the demonic expression she sported, Touma suddenly felt a sense of regret. _Maybe asking her was a bad idea?_

"Hello? Earth to Biri-biri?"

"Ah." She snapped out of her fantasy. "Right. Here you go." She handed him a 1000-yen bill. "That's the smallest change I have."

"Thank you very much!"

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

The two walked out of the store with their quarry in hand.

"What did you get?" Touma asked.

"Just chapstick," Mikoto replied.

"Really? That's surprising."

"Why is that surprising?"

_Wait, could it be?_ She stopped in her steps. "You're thinking that's an uncharacteristicly girly thing for me to buy, aren't you?"

"No. Nevermind, forget it." Touma explained in a exasperated tone.

"You really ought to be more grateful to the person who just lent you money."

"Sorry, my bad. And I'll pay you back, I promise." He resumed walking. "Thank you again."

"Ah don't mention it." Mikoto replied out of habit. "No! That's not it! Don't you think it's about time you told me what's going on?"

She's had it with being kept in the dark. It's not like she was just an innocent middle-schooler. She faced the dark side of Academy City many times, and she can handle whatever truth he's been hiding.

"Who were those uniformed people? Why were they after you? What were those glowing whip-like things in the sky? And was it really an ang-"

Touma reached over and put his hand over her mouth.

"We... shouldn't talk about that here," he leaned in and said in a serious voice.

As she felt his hand against her lips and his warm breath across her ears, her heart skipped a beat and blood rushed to her face.

"You're too close!" She hastily pushed him away.

"Sorry."

She looked at him awkwardly. Their brief contact had wiped all of her questions from her mind. Instead, they were replaced by something far more important. But Mikoto struggled to put what she wanted into words.

"Actually, there's something I want to tell you," she said, figeting.

_Just say it. 'I like you, so go on a date with me.' It's a simple sentence._

"I-I l-li-li-ke you." She managed to stutter out the words. But unfortunately, she was about as loud as a mosquito.

"What's that, Biri-biri?"

_What are you making me say twice you idiot!_

"I l-li-like-" she began her struggle anew. _It's now or nothing!_

"You like?"

"I LIKE YOU TO STOP CALLING ME BIRI-BIRI!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Okay, okay! You don't need to get angry over that."

_Somebody kill me now._ Mikoto mentally facepalmed. _You just wasted a perfect chance to tell him! At this rate he'll never be yours._ A cloud of gloom descended upon her.

"So, what do you want me to call you?"

"Huh?"

"Is 'Misaka-san' alright?" Touma prompted.

"Misaka-san?"

_Wait, maybe this situation is salvageable?_ The cloud of gloom around her disappeared as quickly as it came. _If I can get him to call me by my first name..._ A mischevious grin crept onto her face.

"Well, 'Misaka-san' is fine I guess, but..."

"But?"

"That sounds like we barely know each other. We've been through a lot together you know," she said a matter-of-factly.

"Um... So 'Mikoto-san'?" He offered, this time using her first name.

"Too long."

"T-Too long? It's only 4 syllables." Touma scratched the back of his head.

"Mi-chan?"

"Do I look like I'm in kindergarten?!" She fired back against the overly cute and childish way he called her. _Well, actually, I wouldn't really mind if he really did that..._ But that's far too embarassing to admit out loud!

"Just 'Mikoto' then?"

Mikoto nodded in satisfaction.

"Isn't that too close?" Touma asked, "it sounds like we're dating."

"D-dating?" She couldn't help but blush at his remark. "Stop thinking such creepy thoughts! We're just friends. Friends!"

"Okay, okay, Mikoto. You should call me Touma then."

"O-okay. Tou-"

"Touma!"

Her practice run was interrupted by another voice. She looked up and saw a silver-haired girl dressed in a white nun's habit.

"Index?"

"Touma! You said you were going to buy food. I waited patiently for you at home, but here you are, flirting with short hair!"

"We're not flirting!" Both of them vehemently denied the accusation.

"'Mikoto~ Call me Touma~' Isn't that what you said?" Index gave an all-too-romantic-sounding impression.

Actually, Mikoto would be all too happy if that was the case, but...

"That's not what I sounded like," Touma denied. "Besides, why do you care who I flirt with?"

"Why do I care?" Index seemed taken back. "Touma. I'm going to get angry," She narrowed her eyes and said in a serious voice,

"Yeah, yeah." Touma dismissed her with a wave and walked away.

"Grrrr... Touma!" The nun chased after him.

"See you later, Mikoto." He called out.

"Ah, see you later," she replied.

_Hey wait a minute! I was going the same way, why did we say goodbye?_

But now that she's said it, she couldn't just keep walking after them. _Ah... Might as well check out the shops around here. You never know where Gekota could be hiding..._

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Agnese:** Is 450 yen a lot of money?  
**Mikoto:** No, not really. It's about $4.5, or 2.5 pounds.  
**Agnese:** I'm jealous. 50 yen for anything from Touma?  
**Mikoto:** Ah-haha...  
**Touma:** I'm going to regret that aren't I? By the way, Author, what's up with this corner anyways?  
**Author:** It's just a place for us to talk about stuff.  
**Touma:** Stuff?  
**Author:** You know how some authors have a section to answer their reader's questions? I thought this is a more fun way to do it.  
**Touma:** I see. Speaking of fun, isn't this chapter's too light-hearted?  
**Author:** Is there such a thing? But I guess the atmosphere is quite different from the prologue.  
**Agnese:** That's right! It's almost like a romantic comedy.  
**Mikoto:** *Eyes the author* So?  
**Author:** So?  
**Mikoto:** *Leans in* You know.  
**Author:** Uh... no I don't?  
**Mikoto:** Romance?  
**Author:** W-what about it?  
**Mikoto:** Jeez. I'm asking if I have a chance with Touma!  
**Author:** Oh. That. Uh... Hey look! My bus is here. *Runs away*  
**Mikoto:** Huh? Wait! Come back~  
**Touma:** ...  
**Agnese:** ...  
**Touma:** See you next time?


	3. Chapter 3: Descent into Florianopolis

DISCLAIMER:

THE STORY IS DISTRIBUTED IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL BE ENTERTAINING. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF READABILITY AND FITNESS FOR ANY ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSE. SHOULD THE STORY PROVE UNINTERESTING, THE READER SHALL ASSUME THE COST OF ALL LOST TIME.

* * *

Agnese was in a grumpy mood when she finally arrived in the costal city of Florianopolis. The 16-hour flight took a lot out of her, not to mention the "hour-and-half" layover in San Paulo that was actually 3 hours long. The noisy cabin made it hard to sleep, and her neighbor, who was far too large for his seat, kept wanting to step over her to reach the bathroom.

If only she could make it all go away. _Why didn't they have convenient magic like that? Maybe she should've asked the Amakusa to set up some sort of portal._

But those thoughts were wiped from her mind when she stepped out onto the street. She was greeted by the bright mid-morning sun and a comfortable ocean breeze, neither too cold, nor too warm.

It's early Fall in Brazil, and she dressed accordingly. Gone is her nun's outfit, and in its place, a pink, tight-fitting t-shirt, a pair of denim short shorts, and flip flops under her feet. A tote bag hung over her shoulder, and from it, she took out a pair of stylish sunglasses. To the people walking by her, she was the splitting image of a tourist.

Agnese waved down a taxi and got in. The ride was quite long — her destination was on the other side of the city. On the way, they crossed a tall bridge that afforded her a good view of the entire area.

Florianopolis is a small city on the Atlantic seaboard. Half of the city sits on a rather large island, and the other half on the continent. Where the two landmasses are at their closest, the city dwellers had built several bridges connecting them.

Tourism is the main industry here. The beaches and nightclubs attract hordes of tourists every summer. There is also a budding tech sector in the city that keeps it afloat in the off season, and a small fishing industry that had been here since the beginning of time. Most of the city is rather affluent, but there's also a few poor neighborhoods here and there.

They passed by a number of churches on their way. Even more are visible in the distance. All in all, there's probably 50 or more churches in the entire city. This being Brazil, most of those would be Catholic.

_Deep in enemy territory huh?_ It wouldn't be the first time she was in such a position. But this is the first time she had no backup at all, not her band of sisters, nobody from Necessarius, no friendly churches nearby, not even that spiky-haired boy she met in Japan.

_Wait, where did he come from? He has nothing to do with this! Just because he saved you once, and saw you naked, and even held you in your sleep..._ Her face turned red as she remembered the night they met.

"Gah!" She clutched her hair, trying to wipe that memory from her mind.

And then she realized she's not exactly alone. She put herself back into a proper sitting position and carefully stole a few glances at the driver. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have noticed her outburst.

_Okay,_ she thought as she took a deep breath, _stop thinking about him. You already offered your body and soul to God, didn't you? You can't just go around giving it to others now. Besides, he punched you in the face! I mean, I was wrong, but he still shouldn't have hit so hard! He doesn't like you at all, so you can just stop thinking about him already!_

But despite her best efforts, Agnese was still thinking about her encounters with the boy when they arrived at their destination.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Fifty three reais, or about £13.50. The same trip in the UK would probably be £70 or more. She handed the driver the money from her bag and stepped outside.

She had arrived in an area that's only slightly better than a slum. Where normal houses have windows, these houses had square holes in the wall. Doors too, were just tall rectangular holes. A stench hung in the air, emanating from an overflowing sewer nearby. Pools of muddy water filled potholes in the road, and trash littered the sidewalk. Despite the terrible conditions, however, she could see small children laughing and playing on the rusted hulk of an abandoned truck.

When she reached her contact's apartment two blocks away, she was greeted with a surprisingly normal-looking two-story building with real windows and a real door. Though it looked a bit worn, with some cracks in the walls and paint missing from the door, it was still a bit out of place here.

She knocked on the door.

"..."

She tried again.

"..."

This is the place, isn't it? She double checked the piece of paper with the address on it.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"..."

Agnese reached towards the door handle and slowly turned it. Click, came the sound of the sliding bolt. The door was unlocked. _But wouldn't it be bad if he found me in his room uninvited? Maybe I should just wait outside._

As she hesitated about what to do, the weight of her hand had already opened the door for her. The entrance led to a kitchen where a woman was washing dishes. But she took no notice of Agnese.

_Was she a servant he hired? I didn't hear about anyone else living here._ She stowed away her sunglasses and called out.

"Um, hello?"

_Was she too quiet?_

"Hello!"

"Que?" the woman replied loudly without turning around.

"I'm looking for Mr. Kasin," Agnese said, recalling the man's alias, "does he live here?"

That seems to have gotten her attention. She shut off the faucet and turned around to face her, taking a few seconds to look over Agnese. "Kasin? You mean the rat?" she asked in a heavy accent.

_Rat? Did they get in a fight? Still, calling your master a rat..._

"I-I guess so?"

"There," the woman pointed to a door at the far side of the kitchen before turning back to her work. Seeing she was being ignored again, Agnese walked to the door and muttering a "thanks" under her breath.

Upstairs, there's another door, this one half ajar and revealing a dimly lit room. It was filled with bottles, bowls, vases, books, and various knickknacks. The stuff hung from on the walls, stacked on the bookshelves, piled on the table and scattered across floor. All of it covered in a thick layer of dust.

The only empty space was a path leading from the doorway to the middle of the room, where a three-person couch stood. Upon it lay the prone form of a sleeping man. He sported a stained t-shirt, loose jeans, socks with holes in them, and a wide-brimmed hat covering half of his face. Beneath that, all she could see was a ragged black beard and a bit of light brown skin. One of his hands hung off the side of the couch, stretching towards a half-empty bottle of liquor.

_I see why he's called the rat._ The sight was almost too much for Agnese, who was raised with the Christian virtues of diligence, temperance and, well, cleanliness. That flood-prone washing machine would be quite handy here, or maybe she should just throw everything out the window, him included. But she held back that urge and called out to him instead.

"Mr. Kasin?" The name was almost certainly an alias.

"Mmmguh," came an incoherent response.

"Mr. Kasin, I'm here for business."

"Mmph Kasin... Business..."

"Yes business, now please wake up."

"Business..." the man made an effort to get up, but only succeeded in tipping the hat off of his face.

Agnese contemplated whether she should really go get a bucket of water from downstairs.

"Hey!"

"Mhmgh... tomorrow."

"What?"

"Do it tomorrow."

"What do you mean tomorrow? We had an appointment!"

"Not my problem. Now go away."

"I see... so that's how you want to do it." A thin smile appeared on Agnese's lips.

She had been feeling stressed ever since she left London. Beating up this idiot will surely relieve some of that. She pulled out her Lotus Wand and muttered the incantation to activate it.

"Say your prayers! FIDELIS 130!" Agnese pointed the wand at him and yelled her sorcery name.

"Gyaaah!"

But before Agnese could even release her magic, the man flipped off the couch like a trained martial artist. He landed on the floor with a thud, scattering the bottles and bowls laid there. Then using the momentum of the fall, he rolled to his feet and made a mad dash for the back of the couch.

But luck was not on his side. As he launched himself towards the space between the couch and the bookshelf, he stepped on a fallen bottle, lost his balance, and slammed straight into the bookshelf, which promptly tipped over and proceeded to dump all of its contents on his head. Thankfully, the couch stopped the bookshelf's fall, and he was spared being crushed to death.

Agnese watched the carnage from the doorway, her mouth half open and the wand still in her hand. Something flipped inside her, and all of her anger vanished in an instant.

"Pfffft..."

The man tried to dig his way out of the pile of fallen debris. But just as he tried to stand up, he banged his head on the bookshelf and fell right back down.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha—!"

"Ugh..."

"HAHAHAHAHA—!"

Agnese clutched her stomach in pain. This was too much. She imagined her contact was a shady person, a bit mysterious perhaps. Someone who could work as a spy, or at least a thief. Not... _this_.

"Ha... ha ha..."

"You know," the man spoke up, having extricated himself from the debris, "you really shouldn't scare people like that. It almost gave me a heart attack."

"Ah haha... Sorry, I just wanted to wake you up. I wasn't really going to kill you."

"Well that's reassuring," the man said sarcastically as he dusted himself off. "The last time a magician yelled their sorcery name at me he blew up a whole shopping mall."

"I guess I was just a bit tired from my flight." Agnese explained. She took a step forward and reached out with her right hand. "Agnese Sanctis, member of Necessarius. I already gave away my sorcery name after all."

"Kasin Reese." He took her hand and shook it. "At least, that's me for the next three months."

"What happens after that?"

"Who knows?" Kasin replied with a shrug. "But now that I'm awake, what can I do for you?"

"I'm here for item number 17. I'm sure someone from my side has already contacted you about it. They say you have clues as to its whereabouts."

"Item 17? Ah yes, that bowl. I thought you people might want it, so I saved you the trouble of tracking it down."

_Yes!_ Agnese couldn't believe her luck. _This means I don't have to go find it._

"It's here somewhere," Kasin scratched the back of his head and turned around to the big pile of books, broken glass and ceramics on the floor.

"..."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Uh..."

"Wait- Don't tell me it's in there?!" Agnese felt her blood run cold.

_If the Archbishop discovered I broke a priceless artifact..._

"Oh! I remember, it's in the back, over by that shelf."

"Jeez. Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry. Sorry."

Agnese let out a sigh. "By the way, you should really clean up the place. Even the woman downstairs called you a rat."

"How kind of her. She usually calls me something much worse." He said as he carefully treaded towards the back of the room, careful not to break anything else.

"She's not your servant?"

"Servant? Lord, no. I'm just renting a room."

_That explains it,_ she thought as Kasin returned with the precious item.

"So, about the price..."

"Why don't we talk this over some coffee?" he said with a smile.

* * *

_Some mission this turned out to be._

Stiyl Magnus tapped his foot impatiently against the cockpit floor. He didn't really expect anything good after he faced off against the archbishop, but this isn't the punishment he had expected. Laura only told him to go to the Falklands, then get on a seaplane. So he had been flying ever since.

Not that it bothered him. Or rather, his pride wouldn't let him. No matter what, he's not going to give Laura the satisfaction of knowing she had succeeded in annoying him.

Instead, he stared out at the deep blue ocean and the lighter, but still blue sky. Somewhere in the distance where the colors meet, there's a horizon, but it's mostly a gradient to him. There's not a cloud in the sky — everywhere he looked, he could see nothing but ocean. He couldn't even tell how fast they were going.

Unlike Agnese, he slept through most of his flight to the Falklands, but that also means he's now perfectly awake, and couldn't fall asleep even if he tried. Bored out of his mind, he turned to the only source of entertainment within a hundred miles.

"Hey Dave." He called the man who was sitting in the pilot seat.

"Yeah?"

"Let's use _that_." Stiyl tilted his head to the back of the plane.

The seaplane was rather large, but its interior was simple. There was a pair of metal seats at the front for the pilot and co-pilot, flight instruments within their arms reach, and a massive cargo hold extending the rest of the plane's length. But instead of holding cargo, the space was taken up by a network of metal tubes.

"Orders are orders," replied Dave, "we're not using that here."

"Come on, how is she going to know?"

"Do you have any idea how low we're flying?" The pilot shot back, "we need to climb if we want to use that. I need to get there without getting detected by the airforce, so I'm not going any higher than this."

"Can't you just use it down here?"

"I told you already, it's too dangerous."

"It doesn't seem that dangerous to me."

"If you really want to die," Dave pointed at the door of the airplane, "go take a step outside. Go on. I'll hold it open for you."

"Tsk."

Stiyl clicked his tongue. He wanted to argue more, if nothing else than to kill time, but then he thought better of it. No doubt Laura would end up hearing about it, then use it to make fun of him. Instead, he once again stared out the cockpit.

And all he could see was the endless blue ocean.

* * *

Three hours later, Agnese was back in the center of Florianopolis. Her bag was now much lighter. The heavy sack of coins has been replaced by the antique bowl. As she expected, Kasin drove a hard bargain. Not only did he take the gold she carried, but he also got another $1.5 million, to be wired to his account once they ascertained the bowl's authenticity.

Even so, she was quite happy as she reported the news to the Archbishop. With the bowl in hand and her flight back set for tonight, she now has some free time to herself.

This was the rich part of the city. Compared to the neighborhood from earlier, it was almost an entirely different world. The buildings were all modern highrises made of glass and steel. The streets were smooth and flat. Fancy cars lined the curb, and women walked around toting expensive hand bags. There was even the sweet scent of something delicious in the air.

Her eyes searched the stores around her, before landing on a dessert shop across the street. _Lucia and Angelene had their birthday cake. It's only fair if I get some too._ With a greedy look in her eyes, she reached into her bag and took out a big roll of money. It was originally meant for buying the bowl, but since Kasin took the delayed payment instead, this was left untouched. There's probably enough here to buy the store itself.

_The Archbishop wouldn't mind, would she?_

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

As she left the shop with cake in hand, she noticed a young boy in rags sitting against the edge of the building. His body was hunched over and there was a miserable look on his face.

_What had happened for him to end up like this? Did he also lose his parents in an accident? Or was he simply abandoned?_ Agnese thought to herself.

She didn't really expect to find any answers, and these questions were all inconsequential to her. After all, she had escaped that life almost a decade ago. But despite that, she still stood there looking at him, perhaps hoping that someone else would come by and save him.

Then, by chance, the boy lifted his head, and for a brief moment, their eyes met. She looked down at the box of cake, then back to the boy and the small tin can sitting by his side. Could it have been more obvious? She didn't have to wait for someone else to save him. She is that someone. Even if she can't take him in, she could at least give him a small bit of happiness.

With determined steps, she walked over and opened the box to show him what's inside. The boy's eyes widened in surprise as he beheld the cake.

"Wow."

"It's for you," she said with a smile.

The boy was speechless. He shakily stood up and reached for the box with his hands, a hungry look in his eyes. But just as she was about to hand it to him, she suddenly heard a man's voice behind her.

"There's no need for that." he said in English.

Agnese turned around to see two men, one in a white robe and the other in a dress shirt and slacks. They each had silver crosses prominently displayed on their chests.

_Catholic priests..._ Exactly the people she didn't want to see. But she kept her expression neutral. Hopefully they're just regular priests and not magicians.

"Are you American?" the robed man asked her. He seemed older, and is probably the one in charge.

"British actually," she replied, still holding onto her cake.

"Your generosity is much appreciated. But there's no need for that any longer. Please enjoy the rest of your stay in our fair city."

_What's going on here?_

Seeing no response from her, the two men exchanged a look. The older one nodded to his partner, who walked past her to the boy. He knelt down next to him and spoke to him in Portuguese. This earned him a concerned look from Agnese.

"What are you going to do with him?"

"We've been watching him for several weeks now." The older man replied. "At first we hoped the government would take him in. But as you can see, he's still here. So we have no choice but take him in ourselves. Rest assured, he will be well taken care of," he added with a disarming smile. His partner, meanwhile, is walking away with the boy.

"That's awfully kind of you," she said.

"It's what we do," he replied. His eyes shifted briefly in the direction of his partner before returning to look at her. "You are quite generous yourself. Is this your first visit to this country?"

"Yes. The weather here is very nice."

"It is, isn't it? If my priestly duties didn't take up so much of my time I would have been enjoying the beaches myself. I may not look it, but I was quite the surfer in my younger years."

"Is that so?" An image of the middle-aged priest in his white, flowing robe riding a wave came to her mind. _No, there's definitely something wrong with that picture._

The priest looked again at his partner. Agnese followed his eyes, and saw that the other two had walked beyond hearing range. As she turned back, however, she saw the priest's genial demeanor had been replaced by a piercing gaze. It was a look that policemen gave to criminals, and it sent a shiver down her spine.

"Now that the innocents are out of the way, tell me. What's the real reason you are here, magician?" The man asked in a much harsher voice.

_I see, so he is a magician._ Agnese steadied herself.

She had expected as much. In the couple of moments since they started talking, she had already went over the locations of her weapons, escape routes, and any potential enemies that are hiding nearby. She still doesn't know how strong this man is, but at least she's ready for a fight. Now the question is, _can I convince him to leave me alone instead?_

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Magic?" she said with a false look of confusion.

"You're fooling nobody with that. I know a magician when I see one."

_Tsk. Not that easy huh?_

"Standard procedure. Wouldn't want to go around and blurt it out to anyone mentioning the word 'magician' you know. Now, as to why I'm here, well, it might be hard for you to believe. But... I'm on vacation."

"You waste my time with your lie. I can tell there's something special about the bag. What do you have inside?"

"A weapon for self defense. I always carry it around." If there's one thing she learned from interrogating people, it's that the best lies are mostly true.

"Even on vacation? Who is after you and what did you do to them to warrant such caution?"

"You know how it is with our line of work. Besides, that's none of your business."

"Not my business? Ha! You coming to this city makes it my business. I know you're not on vacation. Why don't you make it easier on the both of us and tell me which group you're associated with, and why you are here?"

_This guy sure is persistent._ Agnese let out a deep sigh. "Fine, since you asked for it. I belong to Necessarius, and I've been sent here to collect an overdue debt. The guy wouldn't cough up the dough, so I had to rough him up a bit, if you know what I mean. But I finished my job, and now I'm just strolling around the city like any other tourist until my flight out."

The priest listened carefully to her explanation. He stared at her, searching for the truth behind her ruby red eyes. Even after she finished speaking, he continued to stare.

It was unnerving.

But Agnese had trained for this countless times. She didn't sway under the piercing gaze, nor did she show any signs of fear. Instead, she stared right back, as if to tell him how unreasonable it was to even question her.

_Besides, the cover is perfect. Collecting debt a common job for magic organizations. It's a job that doesn't threaten the Catholic Church's authority. And most importantly, it lets him know I'm not to be taken lightly. If he's smart, he'd realize I'm far too troublesome to mess with._

The defiant look threw the priest off. He knitted his brows in concentration. And after what felt like ages, he finally spoke up.

"No. You will come to our Church and explain yourself there. I will ask the bishop to decide. If he believes you, then we will let you go."

_You idiot! Can't you decide for yourself?_ Agnese almost blurted out. _In any case, I can't go with him. They will almost certainly have some detection spells around the church — detection spells that could see magical artifacts. That means they will find the Bowl of Plenty the moment I arrive there, and take it for themselves. But if I fight him right here, I'll just end up being surrounded by more of his people. That means the only option left is..._

"Alright, I'll come with you. But I have a condition."

"What is it?"

"You see, I just bought this cake," she lifted it up so the priest can see it in detail, "and I'm a bit hungry."

"If you want to eat, you can do so at the Church. I'm sure we could accommod-"

Without waiting for him to finish, Agnese flung the cake at the him. With less than a foot of distance to cover, he had no time to dodge, and it him squarely in the face. Seeing her surprise attack was a success, Agnese took off running. The priest meanwhile, was smothered by the dessert. He wasted precious seconds wiping it off before he chased after her.

_I really should've worn sneakers,_ Agnese thought as she ran down the street in her flip flops. If it wasn't for her years of practice running around in chopines, she'd probably have tripped and fell by now. Thankfully, the priest wasn't any better dressed. His long flowing robes hindered his movements far more than her footwear did. Slowly but surely, she was leaving him behind.

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

Several minutes later, Agnese sat down in an empty alley completely out of breath.

"Haa... Haa... Haa..."

Though she had lost the priest, there's no time to rest. By now he would have notified the rest of the Church and they are probably gathering their forces. She needs to get out of the country immediately. The plane ticket isn't going to cut it — by the time the flight leaves, they will almost certainly have people guarding the airport.

She took out a piece of paper with some letters scribbled on it. It's her communication token. Like a cell phone, it allows her to talk with people on the other side of the world, with the added benefit of being untraceable.

"Archbishop? This is Agnese."

"Yes?"

"The Church is chasing me, and I think they're angry."

"Oh my," came the reply in an amused tone.

"Um... You don't sound worried at all."

"You can handle them can't you?"

Agnese resisted the urge to punch someone in the face.

"No. I can't. Even if I weren't completely alone versus several hundred people, you still can't expect me to win just like that!"

"Ah, I thought that might happen," Laura said. "Not to worry, I've prepared a seaplane for you. It's flying in from the Falklands and will be there in an hour and half. Just keep your tracker on."

"Understood," Agnese sighed. "By the way, when I get back, I'm going to take a few days off."

"Oh? Did you want something less stressful? Well there's always the primary school~"

"Good bye!"

"Ah–"

_How in the world did such a frivolous woman end up as Archbishop?_ Agnese thought as she angrily folded up the communication token. _Anyways, the tracker is in my shorts pocket. The seaplane will be landing in the water somewhere. So I should head to the marina, or maybe hide somewhere until-_

"There she is!"

Her thoughts were cut short as someone yelled from the alley's entrance. He was followed by a group of men running behind him.

"Crap!" Agnese took off with her Lotus Wand in hand.

The alley was long and narrow, and the other end quite a distance away. She took a quick look behind her and saw that there were at least six of them in total. They were much quicker than the priest, and were gaining on her fast. She couldn't see any weapons on them either, which means they were most likely magicians too.

_Looks can't just run away this time._ She chanted the wand's incantation under her breath.

The Lotus Wand's six silvery petals opened at her command, revealing them to be the wings of an angel. It was a seraphim, an angel of the highest rank. Without stopping, she tapped it lightly against the wall. The wand worked like a remote control, and a second later, the wall some 30 feet further behind exploded with a bang. It threw shards of concrete across the narrow alley at what would have been lethal speeds. Unfortunately, with her back turned, her aim was off. The shards reached the other wall without hitting any of her pursuers. They ran through the lingering cloud of dust without missing a single step.

_Maybe if I stopped and aimed... No, that would give them the chance to fire back. At this speed, I'm not the only one who can't aim._

As if to confirm her thoughts, something large and semitransparent shot past her, passing about two feet away from her head. In response, she touched the Lotus Wand to the wall again. But this time, she scraped it along for almost a full second. Once again, the alley was rocked by an explosion. Instead of a single spot however, a long stretch of the wall was blown apart. She had spread out her attack, casting a much wider net.

The sound of someone screaming told her she had succeeded. The wider angle meant it didn't have as much force behind it, but whether the it had done any real damage was irrelevant. All she needed to do was to slow them down, because ahead of her, the alley was coming to an end.

As she shot out of the alley onto the open street, she ran straight into the path of an oncoming car. The driver slammed on the breaks, and the car screeched to a halt just short of hitting her. An endless stream of curses flew from his mouth as he angrily stomped out of the car. Most of what he said was incomprehensible to the Italian girl, but the rude gestures he made left little to interpretation.

"Sorry, but I'm borrowing your car."

Agnese ignored the the sputtering driver and to the other side of the car. She carefully watched as her pursuers reached the end of the alley. Then, right as the first person stepped onto the sidewalk, she swung the Lotus Wand against the driver-side door.

**Boom!**

Like a leaf blown away by the wind, the car flipped into the air and flew towards them. It was an unstoppable wall of glass and steel, and its course left the them with nowhere to go.

Seeing the impending doom, one of them took out a small round shield and ran towards the car. He reached it a few feet ahead of the others and raised the shield high above his head. Like a machine winding down after its power was cut, the car's flight slowed to a grind, stopping mere inches from his shield.

Agnese had expected something like this to happen. Without waiting for them to recover, she attacked again, this time aiming for the man holding up the car.

With his attention on the car itself, he didn't even notice the invisible blow coming towards him. It impacted his chest like a freight train and blew him away just like the car. As his concentration broke, the car resumed its flight as well.

The car crashed into the alley's opening with a crunch. Agnese couldn't tell whether they were crushed or not. But either way, the force of the impact had turned the car into a mass of twisted metal. Like a cork on a wine bottle, it had completely blocked the exit.

_Even if they survived, it will take time to dig themselves out._

With the marina just 5 minutes away, she'll be there long before they catch up.

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Laura:** Agnese, you hung up on me! That's mean!  
**Agnese:** That's because keep calling me a primary school student.  
**Laura:** But you're so tiny and cute!  
**Agnese:** I'm not tiny!  
**Laura:** Even your denial is cute. Tehee~  
**Stiyl:** Yeah, unlike a certain Archbishop.  
**Laura:** Wha-?!  
**Author:** *Summons cake* Now, now, why don't we all just calm down and have some cake.  
**Stiyl:** What is it with you and cake?  
**Author:** What do you mean?  
**Stiyl:** It's showing up in every chapter. Don't you know any other desserts?  
**Author:** Uh... should I try cheesecake next time?  
**Stiyl:** ...  
**Laura:** Just ignore him. An idiot like Stiyl would never understand the greatness of cake.  
**Agnese:** That's right! Cake can fix any problem.  
**Index:** Yay! Cake! Cake!  
**Stiyl:** Et tu, Index...?


	4. Chapter 4: Descent into the Unknown

**Chapter 4: Descent into the Unknown**

* * *

In Academy City's District 7, a figure popped in and out of existence. It moved in a zigzag pattern across the rooftops. Down below, a group of students ran through the alleys, dressed poorly and armed with baseball bats and crowbars. They seem to be running away.

It was routine Judgement work for Shirai Kuroko. She's chasing down some delinquents who got into a fight in a supermarket. It was the type of work that just never ends. Even when she arrests them, all the city will do is give them detention for a week or two, and then let them back out onto the streets.

_Not that they actually go to detention..._ Kuroko sighed, _but at least this is more interesting than picking up trash._

Just as she was about to catch up to them, her phone rang. She stopped on the roof of an apartment building to answer the call.

"There's a report of a gang fight-" another girl's voice came over the phone.

"Yes Uiharu, I just located them," she replied impatiently.

"No, I mean, there's another one. Six blocks South-Southeast."

"Another one?" Kuroko clicked her tongue. _At this rate, I'm going to spend all day chasing around these delinquents._

"The report says there's three people. No mention of any weapons."

"Roger. I'll head over once I'm done here. Oh and see if you can't get another Judgement office to lend a hand."

"I will try my best, Shrai-san."

Kuroko hung up the phone and resumed her chase.

It didn't take long for her to catch up to them again. She teleported into the air front of one of them, her foot raised to the height of his head. Unable to stop his forward motion, the delinquent ran straight into her, and gave himself a kick in the face. He lost his balance and fell over backwards. Eight nails later and he was safely pinned to the ground.

"One down and three to go."

=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=Ξ=

"Haaah~" Kuroko plopped down in her chair, completely exhausted. It's now 8 pm at night, and backup has finally arrived to take over their work.

"Good work, Shrai." Konori Mii, the Judgement office chief said.

"I wonder what happened? All of a sudden there's so many gang fights in this area?" Asked her teammate, Uiharu Kazari.

"Beats me, at least they're mostly level 0's," Kuroko replied. She leaned her head back until she could see everything upside-down.

"Level-0's? Skill-Out then?"

"What a bunch of idiots. While everyone else is worrying about the Roman Catholic Church, they're here causing trouble." Kuroko said with a grimace. "But I wonder why are they fighting amongst themselves? I had to teleport some of them to the hospital."

"Maybe Konori-sempai knows something?" Kazari turned to the chief.

"Eh? Well, I heard they have a new leader now."

"A new leader?" asked Kuroko.

"Hamazura Shiage, I think. I've met him once, but he didn't look like someone who could run Skill-Out."

"Maybe that's why they're fighting amongst each other," Kuroko said with a smirk. She lifted her head up again and noticed Kazari was looking intensely at something on the screen. "What are you reading, Uiharu?"

"It's just the latest hacker news," she replied without looking back, "they have a new lead on that database break-in from a few months ago."

"Ho? Did they catch the person?"

"No, not that. They found a suspicious computer he might have used in the attack."

"That's it?" Kuroko was unimpressed.

"This is really big news you know," Kazari turned around to face her. "He's one of the best hackers in the entire city. I mean, nobody even noticed that he snuck in until a week later!"

"Is that hard to do?"

"Shrai-san, you don't understand, he took over two front end systems at the same time, used a race condition between them to escalate his privilege, started a separate DDOS to distract security, and when he's done copying the data, he hacked into 3 more systems just to delete the logs!" Kazari excitedly recounted the events. "He did all of that in 12 minutes! It's amazing! Even now we don't know how he got access to the database because even with a privilege escalation, the frontend systems can't connect to it directly. Don't you think that's crazy? I'd do anything to meet him in person."

Kuroko stared blankly at the flower-headed girl. She understood less than half of the things coming out of her mouth. But then a flash of inspiration came.

"You sound like you have a crush on him," Kuroko teased with a grin.

Her comment brought a blush to Kazari's cheeks. "No I don't! It's just that he did it so perfectly I can't help but feel respect..."

"Alright, whatever you say, Uiharu-chan."

Somewhere beside her, Kuroko heard their chief snickering.

Kazari sighed. "Anyways, now that work is over, how about we get some dinner? How does yakisoba sound?"

"What a great idea!" Kuroko hopped up from her seat with newfound enthusiasm. "Are you coming Konori-sempai?"

"Ah, you two go ahead, I still have some work left to do."

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" "Bye!"

The two girls packed their things and teleported out of the building.

* * *

_Money really is a universal language,_ Agnese thought as she headed out to the sea. She had tried to explain to the owner of a small speedboat where she wanted to go, but after several minutes of English, Italian, broken Portuguese and wild gesturing, all to no effect, she stuffed 500 reais in the man's hand and just pointed.

They headed South, out of the strait and towards the Atlantic. The small boat raced across the water, bouncing against the waves. It wasn't long before the individual people on the shore were reduced to distant specks.

About half an hour later, they arrived at a group of small, uninhabited islands in the Atlantic ocean. They were covered by lush green foliage and surrounded by a yellow ring of bare rocks and sand — emeralds set in gold and laid upon the turquoise waters. Certain parts of the shores were lined with large boulders, and when combined with the calm waters between the islands, they made perfect docks.

Agnese landed on the largest of these islands. After thanking her ferryman, she sent him away. This should be far enough from the city to be safe from the Church.

_Now then, what should I do while I'm waiting for them pick me up?_ Agnese thought to herself.

She pulled out the bowl she went to so much trouble to get. It felt light to the hand — a high quality piece of ceramic for its age. The interior had been clear-glazed, revealing the light-brown clay. The outside had been painted a dark brown, with inscriptions scribbled in black.

She was trying to decipher the text when she felt an oncoming bout of dizziness. Thinking she was just seasick, Agnese put the bowl away and sat down. But after waiting for a few minutes, the feeling didn't go away. If anything, it was getting worse. She looked around for any signs of trouble, but her surroundings hadn't changed since she first landed.

_But this is definitely unusual..._ If it was seasickness, she should have felt it while on the boat, or at the latest when she returned to firm ground. She's also not the type to get dizzy from being tired, nor did she eat anything suspicious. Besides the bland-tasting airline food, all she had was coffee with Kasin. He had no reason to hurt her. In fact, he'd want her alive and well so he can collect the rest of his money.

_The Church then?_ She's pretty sure she wasn't hit by anything when she ran through the alley, but it could be a large-scale magic that affects the whole area. _The God's Right Seat is said to have such a weapon. Perhaps they have something similar Brazil? Would they even bother with using that on me?_

Agnese shook her head. The dizziness was starting to interfere with her thoughts. The vertigo had grown, and she felt as if the earth itself was being tilted on its side, gravity was pulling her sideways.

_No. That's not important right now. I just need to know where it's coming from and get away._

If it was indeed magical in nature, there is a simple spell that can pinpoint the source. Gritting her teeth to block out the dizziness, Agnese reached into her bag and took out a piece of chalk. She moved her hand quickly across the stone and drew a spell circle, about 2 feet across. Before she finished filling in the runes around the perimeter, however, the circle began to glow.

_That's strange... Am I hallucinating?_

Incomplete spell circles shouldn't do that. Actually, not even a complete detection spell is supposed to glow.

"Wait... Maybe it's the bowl?" She hastily extracted it from her bag. But to her dismay, the bowl was as inert as ever. Then she noticed the ground was shaking. _When did that start happening?_ But in her daze, she couldn't seem to recall.

And then she looked up. A beam of light was shooting out of the trees not too far from her. It was so bright that its path was easily visible under the mid-day sun.

_I think I found the problem..._

* * *

Back in the city, in a certain cathedral, Father Dias was not having a good day. He ran into some red-headed brat from England, had a cake thrown in his face, and then chased her through the city. After losing sight of her, he called for backup and organized the search from the streets. But despite his best efforts, she had slipped away again, and this time, she also injured two of his disciples. The entire ordeal was giving him a headache. He had only just returned to the cathedral and washed the remaining bits of whipped cream off of his face when he was summoned to the artifact room.

The artifact room mostly serves as an area to discuss magic. Located in the basement of the cathedral behind a locked door, it's off-limits to tourists, ordinary church-goers, and even most priests who serve here. The caution is not unwarranted, for it holds the fruits of 300 years of artifact collection. And while most are merely here for their historical value, there's quite a few magical artifacts as well.

One of the most important, and certainly the largest artifact in the room is A Pequena Cidade. It's a scale model of Florianopolis and the surrounding lands, about 8 feet on each side. It was an intricate construction of wood and stone, built over 150 years ago by a man obsessed with detail. He had replicated every single part of the city in miniature, down to the tiles on the roofs and potholes on the streets.

But it wasn't until very recently that they discovered the magical power of A Pequena Cidade. An apprentice had came to the room during a skirmish to fetch some weapons, and saw that the model was bustling with activity. Little sparks of light appeared all around the little city. He notified the bishop of the his observation, and after the skirmish, they performed more research on the phenomenon. It seems that whenever someone uses magic in the area, a little spark would appear on the model, showing exactly where it had been casted.

When Father Dias reached the artifact room however, what he saw wasn't a mere spark. Shooting out of the surface, near the edge of A Pequena Cidade, was a dazzling beam that lit up the entire underground chamber.

"What in the world..." he shielded his eyes against the glare.

"Marcelo."

There was another man in the room who was observing the light with keen interest. He acknowledged the priest's entry without looking away.

"Your excellency." This man was the Bishop of Lugo, the Ordinary of this cathedral, and his direct superior.

"I don't suppose you know what we're dealing with here?" He motioned to the miniature city.

The priest took a closer look at the beam of light. The brightness had made it appear larger than it really was. It was actually very narrow and rooted in one of the small islands in the ocean.

"I've never seen anything like this," he answered honestly.

"Neither have I. But I have a theory." The bishop took out a small golden bell from under his robes. "You remember this don't you?"

"Of course."

It's an emergency beacon. A very simple artifact that once activated, sends its own location to every magician whose name was inscribed on it.

The bishop rang it with a flick of his wrist, then pointed at the model city. A speck of light had appeared near the cathedral. It was tiny, especially compared to the bright beam nearby, and it disappeared almost immediately.

He looked up at the bishop in confusion. A Pequena Cidade had correctly detected the magic cast with the bell. But that was expected, wasn't it?

"Now, take this," the bishop took down a hammer from the wall. The head was the size of a grapefruit, and the handle was over 4 feet long. "And swing it at me with all of your strength."

_Did the bishop just lose his mind?_

"Your excellency, I couldn't possibly-"

"No need to be concerned, Marcelo, I have the Walking Church protecting me."

_Ah that's right, I forgot he's wearing that. It would deflect all physical attacks, if I recall correctly._

"But are you sure?" A swing from this hammer would seriously injure an unarmored person. If the magic wavered even for an instant...

"Yes. I'm ordering you to. Now swing at me," the bishop said with finality.

Still not fully convinced, but having no choice in the matter, Father Dias took the hammer from the bishop's hands. He formed a stance and brought the weapon behind him with both hands, taking care not to smash any of the precious artifacts in the room.

"Here I go."

Then with all the strength he dared to call upon, he swung the hammer at the bishop. The hammerhead arc'd through the center of the room and hit the bishop's shoulder, exactly where he had aimed.

_Brrrroonng!_

Much to his relief, the hammer bounced off of the bishop like it hit a wall of rubber. The shock of the rebound shot up the long handle and wrenched it free from his hands. With it's momentum reversed, the hammer flew across the room and punched through the opposite wall, leaving behind a large hole.

"Look!" Without waiting for him to recover from the chaos that was just unleashed, the bishop pulled him over and directed him to the model city.

Another spark of light had appeared.

"Tell me, how does this compared to the bell?" The bishop asked in a rather excited tone.

"It's... brighter?"

It was brighter, and took a bit longer to fade. But even so, it only about as bright as a candle.

"Now what do you think this means? The enchanted bell, a spell commonly casted by new initiates to hone their skills, appeared as a speck of light. While my Walking Church, which took a dozen monks several months to create, was as bright as a candle."

"You mean the A Pequena Cidade not only shows the location of the spell, but also its power?"

"Exactly! We never noticed before because we always casted spells on similar scales."

"But that can's possibly be! If what you say is true, then that..." he pointed to the glaringly bright beam near the edge of the model, "that would be one of the most powerful spells in the world."

"Indeed, you are right. Whatever this is, it's far more powerful than the Gregorian Chant."

_A spell more powerful than the Gregorian Chant? The same one that takes 3000 monks to cast?_

"But... that's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible, Marcelo. You remember what happened in Academy City a few weeks ago, don't you? That abomination they created?"

"Yes, and we might be going to war over it. Do you mean to say this is another false angel?"

"I wouldn't rule that out." The bishop said in a serious tone. "The Academy City scientists had created an angel, and the Vatican is right to be afraid of it, but they are afraid for the wrong reason. Their long-standing feud with Academy City blinds them into thinking the danger is Academy City itself. But the very fact that it was possible means something even larger is at play."

"What do you mean something even larger?"

"I do not know what it is. But this much is clear to me — the false angel was a sign, and so is this. Important changes are underway. What was once rare is now common place, and the impossible had been made possible. I just hope... hope that we all survive whatever comes next."

Father Dias looked into the bishop's eyes. There was something there. Something he never thought he would see in his entire life. Something that shook him to his very core.

It was fear.

"Then what should we do?"

"We can only do our best to prepare. But for now," the bishop pointed to the now fading light beam, "we need to know what is happening there."

With a curt nod to the bishop, Father Dias left the room in broad strides. There's much to do and very little time.

* * *

It took a while for Agnese to find the cave entrance amidst the jungle. By the time she had gotten near, the light and shaking had disappeared along with any feeling of discomfort.

The inside of the cave was dark, and she felt her way forward until she remembered a rather useful little invention from Stiyl. She took out a cigarette and drew a small rune at its base. Then she lit it with a match. The tip of cigarette, instead of glowing like embers, burst into a visible flame, bright enough to see by.

As her surroundings were illuminated, it became clear she wasn't in a natural cave. This was a tunnel, and there was some runes etched on the walls. She didn't recognize them. While she didn't have the vast knowledge of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, she still grew up around magic, and she's familiar with the written forms of the most magical traditions. These must belong to one of the more secretive groups.

_Whatever they did here, it's probably dangerous._

The thought made her feel uneasy. Just in case, she activated the Lotus Wand. She could keep it in this state indefinitely — it's just a small drain on her.

As she walked along, the runes formed something resembling words and sentences. The swirling patterns they made looked like the clouds of Jupiter, or maybe a bowl of pasta.

_Actually, I could use some pasta right now._ Her stomach unhelpfully growled at that thought.

The tunnel stretched on for quite a long way. But eventually, it came to an end. The descending path had led her to a hemispherical room. There were six people lying face down on the ground. One in the center and five in a circle around him. None of them were moving.

_Are they sleeping?_ It was more of a hope than a guess.

Very carefully, she flipped one of them over. A pair of empty eyes stared back. As much as she wanted to believe otherwise, her suspicions were right. These people were dead. And despite having seen plenty of dead people in her life, she was still struck by how surreal it felt.

The body belonged to a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and pale skin. Like her companions, she wore a dark gray robe whose sleeves reached down past her hands, and hems long enough to have dragged on the ground as she walked. There's no sign of what killed her. No wounds of any kind, no blood on the ground, and no changes in the tone of her skin that could indicate poisoning. Her body was the same in every way to that of a living person's, it was even warm to the touch.

Agnese quickly went over the rest of the bodies. They were all the same, except for the man in the center. He had a visible stab wound in his stomach and a dagger lay nearby on the ground.

_Well, that explains him._

But even so, when she looked closer, she saw that there was no blood on him. Not even his stab wound had any. It was just a hole in his white flesh, and his organs were simply exposed to the air. It was then that Agnese understood why the whole scene felt surreal. There was no scent of blood. None of that rusty, metallic fume that always accompanied a fresh kill.

_This isn't normal..._ she began, before mentally kicking herself. _Of course this isn't normal! Nothing about this cave is normal. I mean, what kind of spell leaves the casters dead?_

There was a long pause.

It was difficult to accept, but she knew exactly what kind of spell this was. The sense of surrealism vanished in an instant.

_Human sacrifices._

Ever since the dawn of humanity, sacrifices had been a staple of rituals everywhere. In ancient India, kings sacrificed their subjects for victory in war. In ancient Egypt and China, servants were buried alive to accompany their lords into the afterlife. In the Americas, Aztecs ripped out the still-beating hearts of their enemies to repay their debts to the gods. And in ancient Israel, in the most important sacrifice of them all, Jesus died on the cross to bring salvation to all of mankind.

This was the most powerful type of magic, and one long since forbidden by every major religion in the world. Human life is precious after all, and there's no need to offer it when hard work and wise decisions could provide the same result. But this is also where its power comes from. In exchange for something so valuable, even miracles were possible.

_Even more so if the casters sacrificed themselves..._ She thought grimly. _But what did they ask for in return?_

Agnese raised her cigarette light and looked closely at her surroundings. On the ground, there was a large pentagon inscribed in two circles. From the current locations of the bodies, she can see that during the ritual, one person stood at each point of the pentagram and the sixth in the center.

This is not unusual. Many spells require a spell circle, and at least half of those require an inscribed shape, with pentagons, hexagons and octagons being the most common ones. Standing on the spell circle merely reinforces its structure.

What _is_ unusual are the runes. Not only were they unrecognizable to Agnese, they were also everywhere. Usually a spell circle by itself is sufficient to cast a spell. But used in conjunction with runes, the caster could change the spell in some way. The more runes, the more changes. This allows for more complicated spells, for example a trap that only activates in the presence of a magical artifact.

Finally, there's the location itself. Far away from the bustling city and deep underground, the site guaranteed that there were no disrupting influences. This too, was important for a complex spell.

"But what was it?" She returned to her original question.

Her examination had only yielded more questions. Her knowledge of forbidden magic was very limited. She was told never to touch the grimoires in the library, and being the obedient girl she was, she had done exactly as she had been told.

"In any case, I should get the word out first." She said to herself as she took out the communication token.

"Archbishop?"

"Yes, Agnese?" the reply was almost instant.

But right at that moment, Agnese heard the echo of a footstep coming from the tunnel.

_More people from their cabal?!_

"Agne-"

She quickly folded away the token and snuffed out the cigarette light. She stood still in the pitch black room and listened. Sure enough, after a few seconds there came more taps of shoes against the floor. In her haste to find the source of the strange phenomena, she had forgotten to set up any kind of detection spell outside the cave.

_You idiot!_ She mentally chastised herself. _You just have to forget that here. There's only one way out!_

But her internal struggle was short-lived. Her mind quickly turned to the situation she was in.

_Let's say they're here to pick up the corpses, would they let me go if I pretend I was just lost in the woods? Maybe something like "Hi, I'm lost. Did you know there are dead bodies here?"_

Agnese shook her head. _No, that would never work. Even if I'm a normal tourist, these crazy people might just kill me to keep me quiet._

The footsteps drew nearer, and to her dismay, it sounded like there were more than one. Peeking out of the room, she saw a flickering orange light in the distance.

If she had to fight them, there's little she could use in here to her advantage. The ceiling was somewhat high, but due to the domed shape, hard to utilize. The walls formed a circle, with only a few feet of space near the entrance that were hidden from view. She'd be visible the moment someone stepped into the room itself. The floor was taken up by the spell circle and the dead bodies.

Traps were out too, as they require space for the magic circle. With runes everywhere, there's not enough space for anything powerful enough to cause damage. And she didn't have time to draw hundreds of little ones. Maybe if she knew what the runes were for, she could repurpose them...

_Wait! The bodies!_

A human body was not the best place to put a spell, especially an explosive one. But since they're dead already, they probably wouldn't mind too much.

She felt her way to the center of the room and took out her chalk from her bag. Working quickly in the dark, she drew a spell circle on each of the bodies, and then turned them over to keep it from view.

Then with some effort, she squeezed herself in beneath the body of the man in the center, taking the lotus wand with her. He was more than two feet taller than she was, and his body easily covered her from head to toe. And with the addition of his robe, it was impossible to see her underneath. At least, that's she hoped for.

_Ugh, he's still lukewarm._ Agnese thought from under the body. It was so heavy it was almost suffocating her.

The footsteps steadily approached, and then stopped. They had arrived at the room. Through the robe, Agnese could see the orange glow of their torch. She held her breath and forced herself to remain completely still. For what seemed like an eternity, all she could hear was her own heart beating away at the silence.

Then a young man's voice broke through. He spoke quietly is Portuguese. Agnese struggled to understand what he said, but to no avail. Another voice responded, this time female. They exchanged a couple of words, and then stepped towards the corpses. This is what she had been waiting for.

From underneath the fallen man, Agnese readied her spells and wand. There's no telling what her hastily drawn spell circles would do.

_In any case, I should wait. The closer they get, the more damage the spells will do._

Almost as soon as she thought that, she heard rustling nearby.

_Now!_

**Boom! B-boom**

A chain of explosions rocked the room. The heavy body above her protected her from the shock and shrapnel. In one swift motion, she kicked it away and rose to face her opponents.

But the man she saw was not who she had expected. It was the priest from the church! One of his hands was raised to shield him from the blasts earlier, and the other held a cross-shaped implement, a weapon presumably. To his side, a young man lay on the ground, unmoving, and behind him, a young woman was covering her face, fresh blood seeping out between her fingers. Three of her five traps had sprung, and one of those was on the body they touched. A look of recognition crossed the priest's face.

_I don't think I can talk my way out of this one._

Before the priest had time to act, Agnese brought the lotus wand upon him. An invisible blow shot towards him from the side. The motion alerted him to the danger, and he immediately ducked from the attack. Then, pointing his cross at her, he muttered something under his breath.

Without waiting for his attack to come, Agnese dived to the side. Whatever it is, he had to aim for it to work. She landed several feet away and rolled to her feet. Her gut instincts had been right. Sharp metal spikes more than a foot long erupted from the ground on which she had stood just a moment ago.

"Take this!"

She swung her wand at him again. Predictably, he ducked out of the way. But the invisible bullet flew far above his head and hit the ceiling, breaking off loose chunks of rock and bringing it down on his head. It took a second for him to recognize her intent, and he leapt to the side just in time. Seeing the hole in his defense, Agnese dashed towards him. The attacks from the lotus wand were slow and could be avoided.

_But not if it's from point-blank!_

She was just 3 feet away from her fallen enemy when she sensed movement to her left. Years of combat experience screamed danger at her. She thrust her foot in front of her and stomped hard against the ground, turning her forward momentum into a jump. As she left the surface, a glass spear as thick as her arm shot past, mere inches in front of her chest.

_That was close!_

But the sneak attack did not distract her from her goal. If anything, it made her even more determined to take down the priest. Winning a fight against an experienced magician is no easy feat. Why make it even harder and take on two at once? She swung her wand at the priest again mid-jump. But instead of dodging as she had expected, the priest pointed his cross at the ground beneath her.

_What the-_

In the same instant, her attack met its target, and a sharp pain pierced through her leg. The priest took her attack head-on and was thrown across the room where he hit the wall with a satisfying crunch. But it wasn't a simple victory for her. When she looked down, she saw a metal spike protruding from her left calf.

"Marcelo!" A woman's voice called out from her left and snapped her out of her reverie.

_This is no time to be pinned to the ground!_ Gritting her teeth, Agnese pushed down with her good leg.

"Aagh!"

The force pulled her injured leg from the spike. It had left a gaping hole, and blood gushed forth from the wound. Ignoring the pain, she turned to face her one remaining opponent, who had by now also turned their attention to her.

The woman moved first. She held a 3 feet long pipe, one end of which was glowing orange. When she swung it, the glowing end produced a long stream of molten glass. It flew at Agnese at speed, cooling in mid-flight to form a sharp glass spear.

Agnese crouched and rolled to the side. The glass spear missed her and crashed into the stone wall behind her, shattering into a million pieces. Then as she rolled upright, she counterattacked. The shot headed straight for its mark, but the woman easily side-stepped out of the way and retaliated again with her own.

They exchanged two more rounds of attacks, but neither could land a hit on each other. As if by mutual agreement, they both stopped to analyze their opponent.

The torches brought by the newcomers had been left on the ground. The orange glow from below gave the woman a striking resemblance to those angry spirits frequently found horror movies. Her shoulder-length brown hair was loose and flayed, dark streaks of blood ran down her face, her t-shirt was in tatters from the trap's explosion, and her jeans were torn in several places. But what really gave her that demonic aura was the vengeful fury in her eyes. It seemed like she had been rather close the priest, who hadn't moved at all since his run-in with the wall.

Agnese on the other hand, had more worries on her mind. She had to win, and win fast. Although the pain was bearable, her leg was still bleeding and if left untreated, she would start to lose her concentration, maybe even her consciousness. Her opponent's attack seemed similar to hers, but they were more visible and direct. At least theoretically, she should have the upper hand, if it wasn't for her injury that is.

Once again, the woman moved first. This time, she summoned three spears. They sliced through the air, one heading straight towards her, while the other two were angled to the left. It took everything Agnese had to duck out of the way. The woman had noticed her weakness, and deliberately aimed to her left so that she had to use her injured leg to dodge.

Before Agnese had time to recover, the woman attacked again with the three more spears.

_Don't underestimate me!_

Agnese swung the lotus wand at the incoming spear, the one aimed straight at her. The invisible blow met the glass midway, shattering it, and throwing fragments back the way they came. Like shotgun pellets, the shards covered a huge area. The counter caught the woman by surprise, and she barely had time to cover her face.

"How do you like a taste of your own medicine?"

The woman, however, ignored her taunt. She held up her pipe and formed a large blob of molten glass, about size of a grapefruit, and launched it at Agnese. The blob solidified mid-flight into a melon-shaped object, which, though larger than the spears, was also much slower.

Agnese easily landed a hit on it. But instead of shattering like the spear, the glass blob was merely deflected to the side. It bounced harmlessly on the ground and stopped near her feet. She looked up at the woman to see a smirk on her face. Her eyes were still looking at the glass blob.

_A feint?_

Agnese noticed it a second too late. There was a thin strand of glass linking the blob to the woman's hand. With a twist of her hand, the glass thread shattered into a powdery cloud. Like a fuse, the shock wave traveled along the thread to the glass blob, and caused it to explode like a bomb. Thousands of razor sharp pieces flew in every which direction.

Agnese screamed in pain as the shards cut through her slender legs and brought her down to the ground. Blood streamed out of her wounds. Her entire lower half felt like it was on fire.

The woman walked slowly towards her, the pipe raised.

_Get up!_ Agnese ordered herself to no avail. She had no more strength left in her legs. _Come on!_

"Eight people have died by your hands, and two more are in the hospital," the woman said coldly, "your murder spree ends here."

Agnese desperately pulled herself away. The lotus wand had been thrown from her hand in the explosion and she had nothing to defend herself with.

"I didn't kill them. They were dead when I-"

"And Marcelo?" she spoke through her teeth.

"I..."

_The priest could have dodged it!_ She thought, but then she realized that was no excuse. She would have dealt that blow to him eventually. He was neither as nimble nor as skilled as a fighter as herself.

"I didn't mean to kill him."

"Ha! Tell that to God when you face your judgement!" The woman lifted her pipe and created another glass spear.

"Now say goodbye!"

* * *

**Author's Corner**

**Laura:** Agnese, you're so mean. You hung up on me again!  
**Agnese:** It's not my fault this time. I can't help it!  
**Laura:** I know you're cute, but if you keep doing this, I won't like you anymore.  
**Agnese:** Did you even read the chapter? I'm dying here! At least show some sympathy.  
**Laura:** Fine. I'll forgive you this time. But if you hang up on me again I'm taking it out on your allowances.  
**Agnese:** Why you-  
**Kuroko:** I think it's time for some cake again. Author, if you could?  
**Agnese:** ...  
**Kuroko:** Author? Hello? ...  
**Agnese:** The Author's not here.  
**Kuroko:** Then where...  
**Agnese:** I heard the author is at work.  
**Laura:** At work? But it's the weekend! The weekend is for R&R.  
**Agnese:** Easy for you to say, miss I-bathe-all-day-everyday.  
**Kuroko:** Yeah, tell me about it. I haven't had a free weekend ever since I joined Judgement.  
**Laura:** *Pouts* But I don't bathe all day...  
**Agnese:** Then explain this £250 gas bill! If you want to bathe, do it at your own house.  
**Laura:** That's not very much money though... only £250...  
**Agnese:** If only a certain archbishop weren't so stingy with our living cost! Do you know how much trouble I went through trying to pay this off? How about I strip you of those fancy clothes you're wearing and sell them to the lowest bidder?  
**Laura:** B-but that's sexual harassment!  
**Agnese:** Your existence is sexual harassment! Get over here!  
**Laura:** Kyaaa~ *runs away*


End file.
